Cry to the Moon
by thor-you-oaf
Summary: After his fourth stay at the psych ward, Loki's parents decide to move the family to a new neighborhood for a fresh start, leaving all the bad memories behind them. At a new high school, Loki and his brother Thor meet a group of people that show them that second chances are given to anyone that asks - they just have to want it.


They were watching him; he knew they were.

Sure, he was sitting alone in a room with nothing but a chair and a table, but he wasn't stupid. He could see the camera up in the corner of the ceiling, and that black paneling on the wall was a one way mirror. They were watching him from the other side, a room with someone studying his every move, every little breath he took and every time he blinked his eyes. He'd been to the police station several times before to be interrogated; he knew how this worked. Except for this time wasn't like all the others, he wasn't being interrogated and nor had he done anything wrong.

"_This is for your own good, son. Just sit here and we'll be back in a little while. We're going to contact your family…we think something might be bothering you."_

That classic last line he'd heard a dozen times before, but he hadn't heard it while sitting in an interrogation room at the station. No, they would normally take him straight to the hospital for an evaluation, _not _take him to the police. Still, he knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but that's generally the sort of thing to expect when you continually try to kill yourself.

He chuckled under his breath, closing his eyes and smiling just the slightest bit. This was a new twist in his story, he hadn't seen it coming. No one had, and that's what was going to throw off the balance of life for him and his family.

Only this time, Loki Odinson wasn't going to apologize.

* * *

Deputy Lee stood in front of the window with his arms crossed, watching in silence as the boy sat there doing absolutely nothing. His black hair hung in his eyes, his mouth twitched every now and then, telling the Deputy that the boy was chewing on his lip, but other than that the boy sat completely still, staring blankly into space; it was unnerving to look at.

"Sir, I found his profile in the database," a soft voice said from the doorway. Deputy Lee turned around and nodded at the young officer, a new recruit that he'd been paired with for the past two months.

"Have someone contact his parents, then. Tell him that we have their kid here, tell them why, too," Deputy Lee said in his gruff voice, waving his hand towards one of the two other officers in the room. The younger man handed off the file and walked over to stand next to his partner, looking at the boy in the other room.

"I read his record, sir. It states that he's been arrested twice for drugs possession and drinking underage," He said quietly. Deputy Lee nodded, letting out a slow breath. He'd known, alright. He'd known this boy for quite some time now. Turning away, Deputy Lee beckoned for his partner to follow him out of the room.

"Jim, do you remember a year or two ago, there was a story all over the news about a drowning down at the lake? It was on a private area of land but the family that lived there had kids that threw parties and had friends over constantly. One night during a storm a group of them were goofing around and the eldest son of the family drowned in the lake."

"Sir, what does that have to do with this boy?" Jim asked as they entered the coffee break room.

"Well, Jim, the kid that drowned was _this _kid's older brother – and he died saving him," the Deputy said, staring him straight in the eye.

"What? There wasn't anything about that on his record though," Jim said, scrunching his face up in confusion. He accepted a Styrofoam cup of coffee from Lee, staring at him expectantly for the rest of the story, wandering how all of this fit together.

"That's because there's a lock, not just anyone can read the full file," Deputy Lee informed him, leaning against the counter.

"But I don't understand, what does that have to do with him being here today?" Jim asked.

"It doesn't, not really. It was the picture perfect family before the accident happened. I'm not sure what happened but the kids got into a fight and it resulted in the older brother dying. Because of that it was marked off as a violence case even though it was an accident. I worked that case for months, Jim, keeping an eye on those boys. They all guarded that kid in there, keeping us from getting any answers. Eventually it dragged out and there were other cases to focus on," Deputy Lee said, shrugging his shoulders.

"And? That's it?" Jim pressed on. "So what, that's the last you heard of any of it until today? But he's been arrested twice this year! Surely someone took the time to question him?"

Lee shook his head and strode out of the room, back down the hall to continue observing the boy. "Couldn't. His father is a big shot lawyer, we can't touch the kid."

"I still don't understand what this had to do with him _now_. They caught him standing at the top of a twelve story building ready to jump, damn it! It was a miracle that an office worker spotted him from the next building over and called someone to grab him before he jumped," Jim said impatiently, hurrying into the observation room.

"Guilt, perhaps? I don't know, Jim. I don't have any answers to give you. Right now all we can do is wait until his parents gets here and ask some questions, but it's off to the loony bin for this one," Lee said, nodding towards the window where the boy remained sitting unmoving.

* * *

Odin stepped into the waiting room of the police station and glanced around quickly for his son. It was fairly empty besides an older woman sitting near the wall and a worn out look man that looked like he was hung over, but Odin paid them little mind and headed over to the desk where an officer was typing away at a computer.

"I'm here for my son, Loki Odinson," He said briskly, having nothing else to say. The lady looked up briefly and nodded, standing up and beckoning him to follow her down a hallway.

"He's in a holding room under surveillance. Deputy Lee is waiting to speak with you," She informed him, her footsteps leaving echoes down the empty hall. Odin said nothing as he followed her. He didn't know what to say, not this time. It was two-fifteen in the morning, too early and too late to be dealing with this. He hadn't had the heart to wake his wife up – the last thing she needed was more stress knowing that the police had caught their youngest son trying to kill himself. It was a miracle that someone had seen him this late in the night.

They came to a stop in front of a door and she held out her hand for him to enter. As Odin entered the brightly lit room, he found his son sitting in a chair slightly hunched over and another man that he easily recognized standing across from him. His eye narrowed slightly at the sight of Deputy Lee but said nothing to him as he walked over to his son and stood in front of him. Loki avoided his gaze, turning his head and glaring at the floor instead.

"Because we caught him attempting suicide in a public place, we have to commit him to a psychiatric hospital for at least three days," Deputy Lee said, cutting through the thick silence in the air. He stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching the father and son before him. It had been too long since he'd last seen Odin Borrson, and he couldn't say they fancied each other too much.

"I'm aware of that protocol, but Loki already has a psychiatrist and I would prefer he be taken to Asgard Private Institute," Odin answered, placing his hand on his son's shoulder. He was pleased when Loki didn't shake it off as he normally would.

"We'll need to hospital information, then. I'll call out an ambulance to pick your son up," Deputy Lee said eventually, moving from his position. He waited patiently while Odin pulled out his wallet and handed over a business card for a psychiatric ward about two hours away, then left the father in son to have a private moment together.

As the door closed shut and footsteps retreated into the distance, the two were left in a silent atmosphere with a single question lingering in the air that didn't need answering. It was the same every time for the past two years, getting the sudden phone calls or finding their youngest son themselves, but Frigga and Odin had never before gotten an answer to their one question regarding their youngest son; _why_? Obviously it was because of what happened to his brother and the guilt that lay on his shoulder, but they had gotten him the help that he needed, he just wouldn't accept it and they did not understand why.

Sighing tiredly, exhausted by the overwhelming amount of stress his son caused him, Odin shook his head and pat Loki on the shoulder. "Your mother and I could find you a new therapist, if you think that might help you. I know that you're used to Doctor Selvig but it doesn't seem like you've been responding very well to his methods," He said quietly, watching his son closely. He waited for an answer, or even the slightest reaction, but got neither. Loki remained staring into space without acknowledging him.

He was used to this, though. It happened every time.

"I didn't wake your mother up when I got the call, but I'll tell her what happened in the morning. Might as well let her sleep for awhile, she hasn't been sleeping very well. She's been worried about you lately, Loki. Thor too, he doesn't understand what you're going through. He tries though, he wants to help you."

Odin paused and hesitated before continuing on, running a hand through his son's long, black hair. "We all want to help you, son. We don't like to see you hurting like this. I – _I _don't like seeing you in so much pain. Because I love you…we all love you, Loki."

He stopped again, getting no reaction from his son. It was okay, though, it happened every time Loki got caught; he would just close himself off to the world, completely shut down for days until therapy started sinking in and he'd wake up from his stupor and life would go back to normal, for the most part. Except it didn't because Loki was still pulling these stunts.

The door swung open and a female officer stepped inside, breaking the moment. "Sir, the institution would like to speak with you on the phone before they get here. Something about rooming arrangements and what to expect, I think," She said briskly.

Odin gave her a nod indicating that he'd be there in a moment, and she left just as quickly as she came. He hesitated for a moment before leaving, his hand lingering on his son's shoulder.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. We'll get you through this, Loki."

And when the door clicked shut once again, a single tear slipped down Loki's cheek as he clenched his eyes shut in resistance to outright sobbing.

Maybe he _would _apologize.


End file.
